Lots of good this weekend, and only really one bad. No more pond hockey for us here in Madison. The pond’s a pile of slush, and it’s only a matter of time before it reverts back to water. But the first MwBC meeting in a long time brought about 5 more gallons of beer, a rather impromptu trip to Ale Asylum and a supreme fried walleye sandwich.

But geez, I almost forgot, it’s Valentine’s Day! Love is a wonderful thing, so you should definitely take the time to think about it through the eyes of philosopher Roland Barthes. Rumor has it, Barthes was so drunk on love, so completely infatuated with the object of his desire, that he stepped in front of a bus late one night in Paris.

Barthes presented us with A Lover’s Discourse: Fragments, a collection of ideas about what it means to be one and “other.” He focuses a lot on distance and anticipation. Do distance and absence really make the heart grow fonder? What do we do to the “other” in situations of intense anticipation? It makes you think about the basis of everything we feel about everyone we’ve ever loved. In a good way!

-Speaking of love, I fell in love a few months ago. On Saturday, she notified me she was leaving. Ale Asylum is out of Mercy Gran Cru (at least that’s what the people at the table next to me were told). Until next year, you will remain, the one that got away.